Earthquake registering 4.3 reported in Quebec

An Earthquake near where I live I did not feel anything since it was in my surrounding area of Montreal   

 

MONTREAL—A minor earthquake, with an estimated 4.3 magnitude, was apparently strong enough to bring down the federal website intended to keep Canadians informed about quakes.

Again.

An earthquake between Ottawa and Montreal caused the ground to shake for about 10 seconds as it struck a few kilometres east of Hawkesbury, Ont., Wednesday at around 1:36 p.m.

The quake was felt as far as 100 kilometres away — in places like Ottawa, Cornwall, Ont., and the western suburbs of Montreal.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

The one notable casualty was the website for Earthquakes Canada, the federal monitoring body.

The last time there was a quake in the region, last June, the federal site was entirely frozen.

This time it was only partially paralyzed.

Many visitors seeking information after the quake hit were greeted by blank screens. By 2 p.m., the site was occasionally working, but only intermittently. It appeared to be running smoothly again later in the afternoon.

The bugs brought back memories of last year’s 5.0 quake, where staffers scrambled for more than two hours to find a temporary solution and it took four hours before the whole site was back in full working order.

Documents obtained by The Canadian Press, under Access to Information, revealed that the federal site was overrun by demand last year.

At the time, an official with Natural Resources Canada admitted the crash raised questions about how well prepared the agency is to communicate with Canadians online in the event of a sudden natural disaster — such as an earthquake or tsunami.

The department explained Wednesday that it has been making improvements to the website, in phases, and that capacity is increasing.

It also said that, despite some complications Wednesday, the site managed to provide information to about 1.7 million visitors per hour. In addition, the government used Twitter to keep the public informed.

“More improvements — as per the phased plan — are being implemented and will be completed in a short period of time,” said a statement from department spokesman Paul Duchesne.

Most importantly, emergency notifications to response organizations do not rely on the web server and were not affected by Wednesday’s technical issues, he said.

Natural Resources Canada estimates that 100 to 150 earthquakes are recorded annually in the region, known as the Western Quebec Seismic Zone.

“Most of them are too small to be felt,” Stephen Halchuk, a department seismologist, said Wednesday. “Today’s event is a bit larger.”

He said quakes bigger than 4.0 magnitude only rumble in the zone every two or three years.

“Today’s earthquake was widely felt in the region between Ottawa and Montreal, but certainly not large enough to do any significant damage,” Halchuk said.

As for the website, Halchuk doesn’t manage it.

But he said an increased volume of visitors at the time of the quake might have affected its performance.

“We had taken steps to improve our (website’s) capacity, so I’m not sure about the specific problems that you may have experienced today,” he said.

As it did last year, the U.S. Geological Survey’s website continued running smoothly Wednesday and provided information about the quake.

The U.S. agency pegged the magnitude at 3.7.

Views: 66

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Robert Carobene on March 17, 2011 at 11:34pm
Thanks Nikki it was near me some family of mine felt it it lasted for like 20 sec or so!
Comment by Nikki on March 17, 2011 at 5:45pm

Robert, I'm glad you didn't feel it.  Check out this map - seismic hazards eastern north america

http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blnorthameast.htm

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Less Prone favorited tjdavis's video
4 hours ago
Less Prone posted a photo

Social Engineering 101

That's how it goes.
4 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

A Prelude to WW III ? It Seems There We Are Trailblazing Idiocy into More Blood and Destruction!

They're rolling out the 25th Amendment trying to stop Joe Biden from insanely thrusting the US in a…See More
9 hours ago
Less Prone posted a video

Chris Langan - The Interview THEY Didn't Want You To See - CTMU [Full Version; Timestamps]

DW Description: Chris Langan is known to have the highest IQ in the world, somewhere between 195 and 210. To give you an idea of what this means, the average...
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

RFK Jr. Appoinment Rocks the World of the Federal Health Agncies and The Big Pharma Profits!

The Appointment by Trump as Secretary of HHS has sent shockwaves through the federal government…See More
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a video

Somewhere in California.

Tom Waites and Iggy Pop meet in a midnight diner in Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes.
Tuesday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

1 possible 1

"It's possible, but less likely. said the cat."
Monday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Monday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Monday
Tori Kovach commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

You are wrong, all of you.

"BECAUSE TARIFFS WILL PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKETS!"
Monday
Tori Kovach posted photos
Monday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Whatever Happened?

Whatever Happened?  The unsung heroes will go about their dayRegardless of the welcome they've…See More
Sunday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Requiem for the Mass Corruption of the Federal Government
"cheeki kea Nice work! Thank you! "
Sunday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Requiem for the Mass Corruption of the Federal Government
"Chin up folks, once the low hanging fruit gets picked off a clearer view will reveal the higher…"
Sunday
Doc Vega's 4 blog posts were featured
Saturday
tjdavis's blog post was featured
Saturday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post Replicon Started in Tokyo October 08, 2024
"Your right LP it's insane for sure and hopefully improbable, keeping an open mind. Checking…"
Saturday
rlionhearted_3 commented on tjdavis's blog post Bill Gates Deleted Documentary
Saturday
rlionhearted_3 commented on tjdavis's blog post Bill Gates Deleted Documentary
"The white dude in the center is Bill Gates!!! "
Saturday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's blog post Bill Gates Deleted Documentary
Nov 15

© 2024   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted